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CANDU & PWR

The document compares CANDU and PWR reactor designs. It notes that while their balance of plant features are similar, the main differences are in reactor core design. CANDU uses natural uranium fuel, heavy water moderator and coolant, pressure tubes, and on-power refueling. PWR uses enriched fuel, light water moderator and coolant, a pressure vessel, and batch refueling offline. The document also discusses differences in reactivity devices and transients between the two designs. It outlines several inherent safety features of CANDU related to its use of heavy water and on-power refueling.

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209 views20 pages

CANDU & PWR

The document compares CANDU and PWR reactor designs. It notes that while their balance of plant features are similar, the main differences are in reactor core design. CANDU uses natural uranium fuel, heavy water moderator and coolant, pressure tubes, and on-power refueling. PWR uses enriched fuel, light water moderator and coolant, a pressure vessel, and batch refueling offline. The document also discusses differences in reactivity devices and transients between the two designs. It outlines several inherent safety features of CANDU related to its use of heavy water and on-power refueling.

Uploaded by

anish_npcil
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 20

CANDU & Differences with PWR

B. Rouben McMaster University EP 4P03/6P03 2008 Jan-Apr

2008 January

CANDU Reactor

Heavy-water moderator Natural-uranium dioxide fuel Pressure-tube reactor CANDU is a PHWR

2008 January

2008 January

CANDU and PWR Reactor Coolant Systems: Very Similar

2008 January

CANDU-PWR Balance of Plant

Balance-of-plant features in CANDU and PWR are very similar:


Administration and maintenance facilities Pump house Reactor containment Turbine and generator

Differences between CANDU and PWR are principally in reactor-core design

2008 January

Differences in Reactor-Core Design


CANDU Natural-uranium fuel Heavy-water moderator & coolant Pressure tubes; calandria not a pressure vessel Coolant physically separated from moderator Small/Simple fuel bundle PWR Enriched-uranium fuel Light-water moderator/coolant Pressure vessel

On-power refuelling No boron/chemical reactor control in coolant system


2008 January

No separation of coolant from moderator Large, more complex fuel assembly Batch (off-power) refuelling Boron/chemical reactor control in coolant system
6

CANDU On-Power Refuelling


Fuelling machines at both ends of the reactor: One inserts new fuel, one removes irradiated fuel.

2008 January

CANDU On-Power Refuelling


Leads to: Constant global power shape, with localized ripples as channels are refuelled and go through their burnup cycle Constant in-core burnup Constant shutdown-system effectiveness Possibility of on-power removal of failed fuel, and therefore clean HTS

2008 January

Refuelling & Excess Core Reactivity

2008 January

Refuelling & Excess Core Reactivity


What the previous slide means, in words: In CANDU, a little bit of fuel is replaced each day. The reactivity change is small. The excess reactivity of the core is always small, a few milli-k (except at the very beginning of life, when all the fuel is fresh). This small excess reactivity is continuously compensated for by varying the amount of light water in liquid zone-control compartments. The low excess reactivity is a safety feature of the CANDU lattice. In PWR (LWR generally), batch refuelling is used. About 1/3 of the fuel in core is replaced every 12-18-24 months. The reactivity change is very large. At the beginning of cycle (BOC), there is very high excess core reactivity (100 milli-k?), which must be compensated for with large amounts of boron in the moderator.
2008 January 10

Reactivity Devices
In CANDU: Devices are in benign environment (moderator at low pressure and temperature) Pressure-driven ejection not possible Separate devices for control and safety Modest reactivity worth Maximum total reactivity rate <0.35 mk/s
In PWR: Device worth is very high, to match high core excess reactivity Pressure-driven ejection must be considered in safety analysis Same for accidental boron dilution

2008 January

11

Reactivity Transients
A) Loss of Regulation

CANDU
2 Yes Low

PWR
1 No High

Shutdown Systems Shutdown Systems completely independent from RRS Reactivity-device worth

Prompt-neutron lifetime (Longer lifetime means slower transients)

Long Shorter (~0.9 ms) (~0.03 ms)

2008 January

12

Reactivity Transients (contd)


B) Thermal Transients

CANDU No effect

PWR large positive reactivity

Cold-water injection into coolant

C) Other Transients

CANDU
Not possible NA

PWR
Large positive reactivity Large positive reactivity
13

Shutoff-rod / control-rod ejection Injection of unborated water into coolant


2008 January

Reactivity Transients (contd)


D) Loss of Coolant

CANDU

PWR

Void Reactivity

Large positive reactivity

Large negative reactivity

In CANDU, Large Loss of Coolant (LLOCA) is the accident which is the most challenging in terms of positive reactivity insertion. PWR lattice has very high negative fuel-temperature (Doppler) and power coefficients, which cater to device ejection and short promptneutron lifetime. In CANDU, the fuel-temperature and power coefficients are much less negative, but the transients are generally milder and slower.
2008 January 14

CANDU Caters to Void Reactivity by:

Arranging heat-transport system to minimize rate of reactivity insertion on coolant voiding (e.g., subdividing the heat-transport system into 2 loops). Providing two fully capable Shutdown Systems that can individually overtake any reactivity transient.

2008 January

15

Core-Region Decoupling
The CANDU core is more decoupled than a PWR core. This means that core regions or zones can behave somewhat independently of others to a greater degree in CANDU than in PWR: the spatial power distribution can be more easily tilted. Also, refuelling occurs daily, in various core regions. A spatial-control system is more necessary in CANDU.

2008 January

16

Fuel-Cycle Safety

Natural uranium or other low-fissile-content fuel ensures that there is no potential for criticality of new or used fuel in air or light water. No need to ship new fuel in borated steel containers No need to borate the ECC System water No need to borate the fuel-bay water Simplified irradiated-fuel dry storage

2008 January

17

Inherent CANDU Safety Features

Reactivity devices in cool, low-pressure moderator. Rod ejection not possible. Small core excess reactivity, because of on-power refuelling. Worth of reactivity devices in RRS is low, magnitude of reactivity-induced transients is limited. Reactivity-device worth constant over life of plant. Long prompt-neutron lifetime slows rate of transients. Nuclear lattice (lattice pitch) nearly optimized for maximum reactivity. Any event that relocates the fuel reduces reactivity.
contd
2008 January 18

Inherent CANDU Safety Features


No reactivity effect from many postulated transients, including rapid cool-down of the heat-transport system. Moderator system can remove decay heat under such severe conditions as a LLOCA coincident with ECC failure. Low radiation fields in coolant, because of on-line failed-fuel detection and removal, and absence of chemicals for reactivity control. Easy handling of new and irradiated fuel. No criticality concern, in ordinary water or air, regardless of storage configuration. Large moderator volume serves as excellent heat sink in hypothetical severe accidents.
2008 January 19

END

2008 January

20

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